a future was lost yesterday

by maleficently

Summary:

The Hatter hadn’t been able to cope with two co-existing realities, and she’d thought him weak. This third may be the thing to finally break her mind in half; like an egg cracking on the side of a prep bowl, with everything sacred to her just dribbling out all over the place.

[Part 2 of a 3-part post-curse AU that mostly ignores Season 2 developments; see the notes for details.]

Notes:

A few disclaimers:

I contemplated this AU-version of Hook before the show made him exceptionally skeezy, and more importantly, this story deals with the same kind of consent issues that the canon premise of the 'curse' does (ie people don't consent to being put under these kinds of spells, and it's questionable to what extent their actions while they are 'cursed' could ever be consensual), and I'm very aware of those but some of the characters in the story may not be (much like they aren't on the show). I promise I'll deal with all resulting issues eventually (and by eventually I mean in the third part, if not here).

Enjoy the story (I hope)!

Chapter 1

a future was lost yesterday

the fatal plunge: part two

…

In which the savior births a universe and the queen, too, is born again.

…

a beginning

…

The first trimester of pregnancy is marked by an invisible — yet amazing — transformation.
The Mayo Clinic

…

a future was lost yesterday
as easily and irretrievably
as a tennis ball at twilight
Sylvia Plath, “April 18”

…

Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

…

Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
Sylvia Plath, “Lady Lazarus”

…

Careful, be careful
This is where the world drops off
Matthew Good, “Weapon”